Windows 7: Notepad icon on desktop is generic

Cel01 · 08 Dec 2011

Icon is just a white blank icon.

Works accessing program. In task bar and on programs list is proper. Only icon like this. On both admin and user account

i have been searched forum, and lots of places on internet. Wow this is a tuffy to figure out.

Brink · 08 Dec 2011

Hello Cel01,

Could you post a screenshot of this just so that we could verify which icon is white blank since there's the main Notepad icon and a shortcut arrow overlay on the icon? If the shortcut arrow overlay is blank, then it could just be almost covering up all of the main icon making it appear to be the Notepad icon when it's really the overlay.

Cel01 · 08 Dec 2011

Hope this helps

Note: bkground is one I put on. I changed bk to MS one and no change in icon.

MilesAhead · 08 Dec 2011

Blank paper icon has been an on again off again bug on Windows forever. Sometimes if you go into shortcut and do Change Icon, select the exe file, then hit Apply it will show up. I get this using Standalone Stacks. About 1 out of 10 the icon is blank paper. I extract the icon from the exe and stick it in a folder I have for icons. Do change icon, then navigate to the .ico file I made. It's one of those things you're never going to fix it completely.

boohbah · 08 Dec 2011

try rebuilding the icon cache to see if it changes things for you, possibly create a system restore point first in case of problems

Icon Cache - Rebuild - Windows 7 Forums

Cel01 · 09 Dec 2011

Thanks for the guidance. I tried both but it didn't help. This is a stinker of a problem isn't it?

HammerHead · 09 Dec 2011

If it is in fact a shortcut. I have solved this by finding the *.exe file in win explorer and creating a new shortcut to the desk top by rightclicking. Once you have the short cut created you can delete the funky one.

Brink · 09 Dec 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by Cel01

Hope this helps

Note: bkground is one I put on. I changed bk to MS one and no change in icon.

This is not a shortcut to Notepad, but a .txt file that opens with Notepad instead.

The icon that I see in this screenshot is the normal icon as below for a text (.txt) file. That's the one that's suppose to be for it.

Am I missing something?

MilesAhead · 09 Dec 2011

Quote:

Am I missing something?

Didn't Windows used to use the icon from the associated text editor? Like a green notepad icon for EditPadLite? Or is that my memory playing tricks?

Brink · 09 Dec 2011

For a .txt file, it's always been the icon in my post above as the default one. If you change the default program for .txt files to be a 3rd party program instead of Notepad, then it might change the icon to be that of the 3rd party program though.

Windows 7: Notepad icon on desktop is generic

Notepad icon on desktop is generic problems?